Its great when my millinery work is featured in the press and I was delighted when Keith Newman of Highlights PR contacted me to say that Machine Knitting Monthly had featured me again, this time the article highlights one of my recycled pieces - le recyclage.

I loved reading their take on my work and how it was relevant to their readership. The final paragraph is particularly poignant - when editor Anne Smith exalts her readers to delve into the back of their "stash" cupboard to pull out an abandoned project, and taking inspiration from my purchase of an old lambswool jumper from Oxfam, bring their projects back to life, too!

I have realised that I enjoy the challenge of making head pieces and hats from recycled materials!

I think what's so lovely about recycled work is that due to the "constriction" that the material itself puts upon you, not only is the initial concept and design inspiration for the piece stretching, it all feels so much more purposeful because I am reusing a resource that would otherwise have been disposed of.

Immediately I look at the piece I can remember where, when and from whom I acquired the material I am using. So the hat I make comes with a ready made history of its own, already!

Taking this one step further what's so precious in the case of a commission - for instance making use of a loved one's sweater - is that of course I include details where possible such as the original labels, and in the legend I enclose in your hat box there will notes on the inspiration source along with making details. So all in all I feel that just by using recycled materials it can make the piece so much more meaningful.

To show you a few more of my recycled pieces in the context of my overall work I thought I would use the lovely editorial that has just popped up thanks to Highlights PR - this time across four pages in the February 2017 edition of Machine Knitting Monthly. The MKM piece profiles my millinery story, and touches upon my recycled work, the "MillinerXArtisan" XTerrace Platform & "The Cupola" International exhibitions along with the North of England Wedding Awards.

Please take a look and browse through the lovely photographs taken by Jim Gibson of GIS Photographic, and you will see there are numerous pieces featured on these pages including some of the recycled collection - le recyclage, Spring and Bow Ties. If you are interested in commissioning a couture hat or exploring the possibility of a recycled memory piece, just use the Contact form.

There are further details of the exhibitions and recycled pieces selected in my earlier blog posts including this one, written up last Autumn.